Rajkot officials unearth fuel racket

Officials of the Rajkot district civil supplies department intercepted a tanker carrying diesel recently at the Wankaner railway station and found 4,000 litres short of the quota allotted to the railways.

This brought to light the thriving racket in fuel pilferage and sale to private petrol pumps located on the highways.

The tanker driver after sustained interrogation admitted to having off-loaded 4000 litres of diesel at a petrol pump near Gauridad, according to Rajkot district civil supplies officer Dinesh Baranda.

"Our investigation is in progress and we are yet to find out the persons behind the racket," he said.

Necessary legal action will be initiated against the offenders under the Essential Commodities Act," said Baranda.

This is the first major racket unearthed by the district civil supplies wing of Rajkot. The officials in the department believe that this could be a tip of the iceberg.